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Legal Challenge to Birth Date

“Why Can’t I Decide My Own Age?” – Legal Challenge

In numerous AgeChecked blogs we have reported on the problems of young people attempting to pass themselves off as 18 year olds in order to purchase or access age-restricted goods. This is the first time, however, that we have come across someone mounting a legal challenge to get his age lowered by 20 years for online dating purposes!

Dutch Positivity Guru Seeks to Change His Date of Birth

In November 2018 Emile Ratelband filed a lawsuit in the Netherlands on the basis that he wishes to change his DOB to roll back the years by two decades. His lawyer argued that his client could, legally, change his name, or his gender, so why not his birthdate? Ratelband made the case that 20 extra years would buy him a better house, get him a better job, and attract younger women on Tinder.

The Public Prosecutor in the case, pointed out that Ratelband would lose the right to his immanent pension payments, and he was happy to accept this. The implications of setting a precedent in this case were also discussed; questions were raised about the rights of parents who may have to cope with a son whose birthdate precedes theirs, or the testing of emotional maturity for people wishing to change their DOB in order to marry legally.

December Ruling on Ratelband Case

The Judge ruled against Ratelband’s case. He issued a statement: “Mr Ratelband is at liberty to feel 20 years younger than his real age and to act accordingly. But amending his date of birth would cause 20 years of records to vanish from the register of births, deaths, marriages and registered partnerships. This would have a variety of undesirable legal and societal implications.”

AgeChecked Offers a Simple Solution to Age Checks

Many of the young people wishing to access age restricted goods would similarly assert that they should have the right to determine their own age (and emotional maturity). Until this assertion gains precedence in law, however, we are able to apply the simple test of birth date. AgeChecked software is designed to provide a simple, streamlined way to verify the age of your online customers.